Explained Like I'm 5: Recent Superconductor News
A week ago, 2 non peer-reviewed papers were published by Korean authors claiming that they synthesized a material, LK-99, is a superconductor at room temperature. The viral picture with a levitating piece of black material, the "Meissner effect", stems from the magnetic field created when a material reaches superconductivity.
Why is this a big deal?
While we've discovered superconductors in the past, a room temperature one would have significant implications for humanity — lossless energy transport, faster transport, faster computers, quantum computing, and many more. This is a Nobel Prize worthy effort.
Is it real?
The world went crazy with this news, but weren't sure if it was real! In the past, in 2020, another physicist has had to retract their claims on superconductivity as well.
Hyun-Tak Kim, one of the authors who is a professor at the College of William & Mary, claimed that the papers were published too early without his knowledge and had "many errors". Other physicists said that the Meissner effect can merely indicate diamagnetism.
LK-99, named after authors Sukbae Lee and Jihoon Kim, is a modified lead apatite crystal that can be synthesized with lanarkite (Pb2(SO4)O) and copper phosphide (Cu3P). Many users online leapt to try and replicate this themselves including
@andrewmccalip and even a complete anon (in Russia?) from tpot
@iris_IGB.
Right now, betting markets say 78% of people think this isn't real superconductivity.